You might remember the Minnesota Vikings—foilers of our first hopes at getting Randy Moss, would-be terrors of the NFC North, foisters-upon of another year’s worth of Brett Favre stories. They’re 3-7, and that’s officially gotten coach Brad Childress fired.
The St. Louis Rams are 4-6, and that leaves them second place in their division, and with a fanbase that hasn’t felt more energized in a decade. Sometimes it’s good to have low expectations. The Rams made a number-one draft pick, sure, but they didn’t coax an increasingly unpopular Hall of Fame quarterback out of retirement, trade for one of the best wide receivers to ever live, get off to a slow start and then get off to an even slower start.
And now, though we don’t get to see Randy Moss catching passes from Sam Bradford, we do get the fruits of that non-labor: The ability to enjoy a season in which the Rams are only competitive because they’re in the worst division in football. The ability to enjoy a quarterback’s performance because he’s throwing to Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson, and Laurent Robinson.
Vikings fans were not able to take such a sanguine position on their 3-7 record—it didn’t help that the Bears were 7-3—and now Brad Childress is out the door. I can’t exactly blame them, but I’m glad it’s not us. Yet.